


Eat

by SuperLeon



Category: Original Work
Genre: Amnesia, Bad Best Friends, Blood, Cannibalism, Emotional Manipulation, Encouraging Cannibalism, Gen, Late at Night, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 19:41:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2282199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperLeon/pseuds/SuperLeon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shin's best friend, Yori, calls him over at 1am, a break from the mundanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1AM

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be a series but??? I feel like it stands okay on its own. I was really interested in cannibalism for about a week.

Shin's phone barely lit his path through the small neighborhood. He sighed, putting the blame on Yori for the lights being such shit where he lived. It was too late for nonsense like this, especially when he still had a project to finish. He'd almost forgotten which house was Yori's, coming close to knocking on the wrong door at what was almost 1 in the morning.

"Ueda..."

This was the right door, clearly, as a bloody, shaken, sobbing Yori came to answer.

Shin couldn't bring himself to be very surprised. In the years they'd known each other, Yori had been prone to his fair share of sobbing fits and night terrors, his solution always being to call Shin (Ueda, sometimes, irritatingly, attaching -nii at the end when he was really shaken) and beg him to come over. Each time, however, he'd been relatively clean and not covered in blood.

"Yori? What happened? Did you have your period?"

The joke seemed to fly over his head, as he whimpered out a barely audible 'no'. He backed away from the door, leaning hard against the wall when it was near. Shin stepped inside, politely closing the door behind him. For a moment, they stood there, just in front of each other, neither saying anything. Shin had to admit that he'd rather be in a situation like this than finishing off some half-assed project.

"Tell me what happened."

With the wide eyes of a terrified animal, Yori looked directly at the brunette, his words taking a bit to register. He clutched the front of his shirt tightly.

"I-I...he's..." He looked down, unable to hold Shin's gaze. "He's in the...the bathroom. I'm so sorry. I'm so—...I couldn't stop..."

"Hm?"

Knowing his way around like muscle memory by now, Shin headed to the quaint washroom near the back of the house, a trail of blood leading him. When he opened the door, he was met with an overpowering smell. A body, still bleeding and twitching somewhat, was sprawled out in the tub, his shirt—among other things— ripped open, a windbreaker splayed out underneath him. It looked familiar.

"Oh, Fujioka?"

It was an upperclassman, captain of the volleyball team (that would explain the jacket). There were claw marks along his torso outside of what was torn open. The edges of the wound looked like it was lined in bite marks.

"What happened here, Yori?"

"Uh—I..."

When he turned around, Yori was crying again, arms tight around himself.

"Did you eat him?"

"...I'm sorry."

Yori slid down to his knees on the tiled floor, hanging his head so that his face was hidden behind his bangs. Shin allowed him to cry to allot himself some time to look over the corpse a little more. Why was Fujioka even here? He knew Yori was more popular than him, had a lot more friends than Shin could even ask for, but were they really close enough for Yori to call in the middle of the night and have Fujioka running to reach him?

Shin looked back at the pathetic mess behind him.

It was 1am, he was a hypocrite.

"What were you two up to?"

"Huh?"

Shin turned to him with a sigh, kneeling to be even with the sobbing mess.

"Why was he here, darling?"

"Uh...he—we were working on something for the...v-volleyball team. H-he wanted me to make a banner so that new members would join."

"Oh. Looks like it escalated quite a bit..."

Yori leaned into Shin's chest, trying to hold himself together. Shin grimaced.

"I couldn't stop myself. I was so hungry, I just—I didn't..."

"You tried to eat him?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened, I just—I looked over and he was just... _right there_. He looked...he..."

"Why didn't you finish?"

Shin could feel Yori tense up some, freezing before moving back to make eye-contact.

"...What?"

"It would have been so much easier to get rid of the evidence that way." Shin sighed, brushing the hair from Yori's face.

"You're...making fun of me."

"No, I'm not. I want to help you, Yori."

His hands were placed on Yori's shoulders, and he offered him a confident smile. On the inside, he was positively giddy. He could hardly stop himself from laughing out loud. What an event this was, finally, a break from the mundanity, something fun to have on his mind while he was wasting away at school. As a bonus, Yori was adorable when he had that hopeless look on his face. Looking innocent and still being covered in blood was something Shin found far too amusing. It was an interesting change from his usual cheery disposition.

Shin stood. Looking down on a face like that proved to be even sweeter.

"Were you going to finish him off? If not, we need to get rid of him as soon as we can."

"I can't...I can't eat that...I'm not a monster."

"Even if you get hungry again?"

Yori simply looked at the other, not sharing in his humour. With a shrug, Shin pulled out his phone.

"I'll look up a way to clean this up, you should probably get a change of clothes."

It was times like this Shin was glad that Yori apparently had no parents. It had been that way since they were younger, Yori never explained it, and Shin decided not to tell anyone. Whenever Shin shared secrets like that, he always found that someone would rise up to ruin them.

He managed to get a few pictures of Yori before he left, wanting to remember this moment well, before catching a few of the body also. Hours passed by, the bleach wasn't working fast enough, but Yori was simply relieved that it worked at all. He would burn his shirt tomorrow (or today, really) after school, so the neighbors would just suspect he'd burnt a meal rather than getting suspicious. Fujioka had invited himself over without telling anyone else, so there was no reason for Yori to look suspicious to anyone.

"Shin?"

Sitting next to him, exhausted from cleaning, Yori looked over. Just as tired himself, Shin didn't move right away.

"Hm?"

"I don't want...I can't go back to school."

That was when Shin looked over to him, eyes serious.

"You have to. Otherwise people might think of you as a suspect."

"Maybe I should just turn myself in. I mean, I didn't want to do it, I just lost control. I don't know what happened."

No. No, that wouldn't work at all. If Yori turned himself in, the whole adventure would be over. Shin would have nothing to look forward to anymore. He might even wind up as an accomplice to the crime just for helping to clean up. He sighed, leaning his head back against the rim of the newly cleaned tub.

" _I_ know what happened, Yori."

"Shin...?"

"You killed someone, and you ate them. Not just anyone, the captain of the volleyball team. How do you explain yourself? Who's going to believe you?"

"Don't say that..."

His voice shook. Shin was reaching him.

"The police will have you detained, they'll kill you if you don't end up in a mental hospital, locked in a tiny cell with your arms wrapped up around you. You can't hurt anyone in a strait jacket, at least."

"Why are you...?"

"I don't want to see that happen to you, Yori. I want you to keep living a normal life, even if you are a monster. You'll always have me, remember?"

Yori was crying again, gently this time. Shin took care to lean closer to him, placing a slight kiss on Yori's forehead like a caring mother. His mind must have been reeling dramatically.

"You'll be alright, Yori, as long as I'm here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had another basically finished chapter already written for this so I'll go ahead and post it.

Shin kept an eye on the younger boy all throughout homeroom, if only to make sure he didn't break and confess in front of everyone. Every move he made was careful, shaking, unsure. The light that had been there not a day ago had faded from his eyes. It looked as though he'd barely managed to clean himself up in time to get to school looking presentable.

With something as sweet as that to look upon, the day passed quickly.

"You aren't staying?"

Shin stood outside of the club room as Yori explained himself to the other members, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

"I'm sorry, I'm just—not feeling well."

"Hm," One of the girls in the room came closer to him, Shin watched from the corner of his vision. "You do look a little pale. Are you eating well?"

Visibly, a noise was caught in Yori's throat. Shin feigned adjusting his glasses to hide a smirk.

"Thank you, but, please don't worry about me. I'm alright."

Another in the group peered outside to look at Shin, who had busied himself with his cellphone. After another flurry of apologies and vague explanations, Yori was free to leave, followed by the promise that someone would email him later with the activities of the day. Yori quickened his steps, trying to get away as quickly as he could without running, and Shin was left a few steps behind with an ever growing smile.

Just before the two could reach the exit, another familiar face appeared.

"Tachibana?...Yori?"

Yori froze, breath catching in his throat. Another underclassman rushed over to him from the entrance of the library, looking worried.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to hold you up, it's just..."

"Jun..."

"Uh, right. I'm Akio's sister, um, I haven't seen him since yesterday, and I just wanted to know if you...had any idea where he was? He was working on something with you, wasn't he?"

Her eyes were putting holes in Yori's resolve, her words like a fire underneath his conscience. Shin could see how close he was to confessing right there, breaking down and admitting to everything because of this girl. He finally needed to step in.

"Yori was with me last night; he stayed over at my house."

"Oh..." She looked away, any hope left leaving her eyes. "I've been asking around and...no one knows where he could be. He didn't call or text anyone."

"Sorry to hear that." Shin did his best to feign care, not sure if he succeeded. "I'm sure he's fine. He cares too much about the volleyball team to leave just like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks anyway."

Jun looked up to share a small glance with the two of them before she was on her way. Yori hadn't spoken a word. He was shaking.

"Are you alright?"

"No. I need to go home."

"You don't need to worry, Yori. Didn't I tell you? You'll be fine so long as you have me."

A silent walk brought them back to Yori's home. But he barely acknowledged their arrival, almost missing the door. A hand around his throat, he swallowed tensely, the tears he'd been holding back beginning to overflow.

"I never told you about my parents..." He wanted something to distract himself.

"I just figured you didn't have any."

"I didn't."

After a brief pause, Yori opened his door, inviting his friend in. Their shoes were put aside, bookbags placed next to them.

"I lived here alone ever since I was little. And since I could remember, there was someone who would come over and take care of me."

Yori found his way into the kitchen, taking a seat on the counter. He noticed Shin watching him closely.

"Who was it?"

"I never asked...I just remembered him treating me like I was his son...Akiyama, I think. He would teach me how to cook and make sure I did my homework and got enough sleep. Every time he came over he had something new to tell me, a lot of things I didn't understand at the time."

"Do you think he had something to do with this?"

A pause. Yori bit his lip.

"I used to think he just...vanished, one day. He stopped coming over, and there was no way for me to call him or anything. But that...might not be true."

"Oh? You attacked him?"

"No..."

"It's okay. You must have repressed the memory. Maybe if you think a little harder?"

"Stop! I'm not a monster--!"

Like a gunshot, a sudden pain struck him. Yori doubled over, hands holding the sides of his head to try and halt the pain. His entire body throbbed in time with his pulse, and something felt sickeningly familiar. Shin had moved closer to him without a word. His hands cupped around Yori's.

"It's _alright."_

The voice wasn't Shin...

_"This always happens, you don't have to feel bad. I knew it from the beginning..."_

"Stop..."

_"I want you to remember everything I've told you, Yori. They'll try to make you forget, but try hard."_

"You'll be alright, I'll go get help--!"

_"They won't let you, Yori. You'll be alright, I promise."_

"Akiyama..."

"Yori? You alright?"

He was pulled from his memory, the headache fading away just as suddenly as the blurry images had. Looking up, Yori found Shin watching him, his hands around Yori's as they held his head. He seemed nonplussed.

"Are you alright? Does your head hurt?"

"Uh...no, I'm fine."

A pang of hunger, his stomach growled.

"Hungry?"

Yori wrapped his arms around himself, not knowing where the sudden hunger had come from. When he'd actually looked to Shin, the other was smirking almost knowingly.


End file.
